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The Student Budget
Purpose and Design
Student cost-of-attendance budgets are developed each academic year by the Financial Aid Committee for use in the evaluation of financial need. The student budget has two primary purposes: 1) to give students an estimate of reasonable costs to attend the School; and 2) to establish the federally required uniform cost of attendance standard against which to measure financial need. Living expense items in the budget are modest and require the student to carefully plan his/her expenditures. While the published budgets include line items for housing, food, transportation, and personal expenses, students are free to exercise flexibility within these line items to accommodate personal preferences as long as total spending does not exceed the original bottom line.
The standard student budgets are based on typical expenses for a single student. Costs for the student's spouse/children are not included in the standard student budget; these expenses are accounted for in the need analysis formula when determining the expected student/spouse contribution.
The standard student budgets for the academic year 2003-04 are shown in the appendix of this guidebook. Budgets for students completing their studies in four years are based on a 9-month academic years in Years I and IV and 12-month academic years in Years II and III. For students pursuing the Five-Year M.D.Option, Years I and V are based on a 9-month academic period, and the second- and third- and fourth-year budgets are based on a 12-month period.
Tuition
Harvard Medical School tuition rates are reset annually and cover courses taken from September 1 through August 31 each year up to the final year of enrollment ending with graduation. Tuition is billed by semester. Eight semesters of full tuition are required for the M.D. degree. Students who opt for the 5-year M.D. program or are required by the Academic Societies Promotion and Review Board to enroll beyond their eighth semester to fulfill degree requirements will be assessed a reduced tuition charge (also know as the HMS Facilities Fee) for each semester of enrollment beyond the eighth.
Health Service Fee and Insurance Fee
All enrolled students must be enrolled in the health care program provided by the University Health Services (UHS) and must carry hospitalization insurance (either through Harvard's student Blue Cross/Blue Shield Insurance Plan or a comparable outside plan). The UHS fee is charged to all students and cannot be waived. A fee for the Blue Cross/Blue Shield hospitalization plan is automatically charged to all students; however, it can be waived upon request to the Student Insurance Billing Office by presenting proof of equivalent coverage under a parent's or spouse's insurance plan. The Student Insurance Billing Office is located in the Holyoke Center building on the University’s Harvard Square campus in Cambridge. The telephone number is (617) 495-2649.
Disability Insurance
All students are charged a fee for a mandatory group long-term disability insurance plan. This coverage provides benefits should a student develop a disability while enrolled at HMS. It also provides a guarantee that, upon graduation, students will be able to convert the policy to individual coverage without having to re-establish medical insurability.
Books and Supplies
The budget allotment for books and supplies was developed with the assistance of a student committee which researched the costs of the most commonly purchased textbooks at HMS. Medical supplies such as a black bag and diagnostic equipment are required starting in Year II, and the associated costs are included in the second-year budget.
Housing and Food Allowance
The housing component for the first year budget is based on the average cost of a rental contract in Vanderbilt Hall; for all other years, the budgets assume shared occupancy of rental units in the surrounding community. Students should consider housing options carefully: additional financial aid is not available to single students whose living arrangements have caused them to have expenses in excess of the total standard student budget.
The food component of the student budget assumes a combination of cafeteria meals, shared grocery expenses and cooking at home.
Transportation Allowance
The transportation allowance assumes local travel by public transportation and the use of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's transit pass program. It also includes an allowance for the cost for one round trip to a student's permanent residence.
Students are responsible for arranging their own transportation, including that of their daily commute to and from their clinical sites. These sites ordinarily are accessible by public transportation from the Medical School, and the average cost for travel to clinical sites is included in the standard student budget. Some sites may be quite a distance from the Medical School and involve added travel time and expense; students are responsible for arranging their own transportation and for paying the related costs. Students who find themselves unable to afford the cost of transportation to a clinical site should meet with their Financial Aid Officers. If a review of the student's financial aid case reveals that s/he qualifies for further assistance, adjustments in the aid package may be made.
Computer Purchases
The cost of purchasing a personal computer, and necessary peripherals and software, is not part of the standard student budget. However, a student may request that the Financial Aid Office apply an increase to his/her student budget to account for the cost of buying a computer for educational purposes.
For those students who are interested in purchasing a computer, the Financial Aid Office will allow a one-time, budget increase of up to $3,500. To apply for a budget increase for a computer purchase, a student must purchase the computer and make photocopies of all of the computer specifications and sales receipts. These copies should be submitted to the Financial Aid Office along with a written request for a budget increase. Students should plan to buy all desired equipment at one time because it will not be possible to make subsequent budget increases for additional peripheral hardware or software.
The expense of a computer purchase will generally be met first with Stafford loan funds to the extent permitted by federal regulation, and then with funds from the Harvard-Citibank HELP loan program. For additional information about this process, please contact the Financial Aid Office.
Child Care Expenses
In the case of a single parent or a student whose spouse works or attends school, the student may petition the Financial Aid Committee to include reasonable child care expenses in the student budget. The student would be required to submit supporting documentation such as canceled checks or a letter from the child care provider. If the spouse is attending school, it is necessary to provide documentation showing the extent to which the child care expenses are being covered by the spouse's financial aid award.
These documented childcare expenses are first factored into the need analysis as an allowance against student/spouse income. Any expenses that cannot be met by student/spouse income are then added to the standard student budget. This increase to the budget is ordinarily be met by unsubsidized loans, Federal Work-Study earnings, and/or outside scholarships.
Married Students
Spousal income is analyzed by the need analysis methodology in such a manner that allows for most of a spouse's income to be used toward his/her own living expenses. If the spouse’s resources are insufficient to meet his/her living expenses, the resulting shortfall may be added to the student expense budget and funded with unsubsidized loans, Federal Work-Study earnings, and/or outside scholarships. Students in this situation should contact their Financial Aid Officers for more information.
Non-allowable Expenses
Federal regulations stipulate that student budgets may not include the costs of purchasing and maintaining an automobile, expenses related to the support of the student's parents or siblings, funds for the repayment of a loan taken in a previous year, or expenses related to internship or residency interviewing. Relocation expenses for moving to Boston in the first year or for moving away from Boston at the end of the fourth year are also not allowed to be included for the purpose of establishing eligibility for financial aid, nor is the cost of furnishing an apartment.
Students may petition the Financial Aid Committee to adjust the student budget to accomodate extraordinary expenses such as uninsured medical/dental costs and clinical rotations outside of Boston. If the petition is approved, these expenses would be funded with unsubsidized loans, Federal work-study earnings, and/or outside scholarships. Financial Aid Committee policy does not provide for the awarding of HMS scholarships and loans for such expenses.
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